You Are My Sunshine
by SkylarEQuinn
Summary: Human AU. Colors AU. End of the World AU. Collaboration fic with themindfuleye! Alfred and Arthur know they have very little time left before their time will end, so they spend it reminiscing their fondest memories together. From the first time they figured out they were soulmates to their final words to each other, it was a love that wasn't meant to die.


_A/N: A friend and I roleplayed this with OC's and they gave me their permission to use this as a story. Yes, in this one, Arthur is younger than Alfred and all that jazz, but it's an AU for a reason. As I always ask, if you like it, please review!_

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Arthur Kirkland rested his hands on Alfred F. Jones's shoulders and smiled at him. He couldn't imagine a more perfect way to spend these last few moments. After spending all this time with Alfred, he was honestly still surprised that this was the suggested way to celebrate the end.

Alfred rested his hands on Arthur's waist, a smile upon his lips. The words escaping his lips were as soft as a spring breeze passing through the newly formed leaves. "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine…"

He sang while the sirens went off in the distance. His voice, a tender tenor, was mostly covered by the alarm signaling an incoming nuke, but it didn't hold fear.

Arthur closed his eyes, remembering better times, before the war had come. He let himself be enveloped by his lover's voice. By this point, he no longer knew fear, knowing that Alfred was with him until the end.

With his voice coming out in a musical manner, Alfred's brain was going to the first time they had met.

.

 _Fifteen Years Previous_

Yet another company meeting had begun and Alfred was displaying a concept character for a newly coming up show. He had a scarred face with ice blue eyes and onyx black hair that went down to the middle of his back. The artist, though, had blond hair that went to his shoulders with a cowlick in his bangs. His soft, blue eyes searched the crowd, but everything he saw was in black and white, no color at all. Drinks were being passed around, and Alfred sat back at the table he was assigned with coworkers: Arthur, Matthew, and Charlotte.

Arthur sat back at the table, fresh out of college and colorblind as all get out. He was always told he had "blond" hair and eyes like "emeralds", whatever that meant. All he knew was that he wanted to meet his soulmate fast, just so he could see what an "emerald" was, having been told all his life that someone's eyes were always their most beautiful feature.

Also, Arthur just couldn't stand meetings. He was one of those people who just wanted to draw. Give him the topic, and he would draw it, no questions asked. He didn't understand why there needed to be a meeting about it.

Alfred sat back in his chair and looked over at Arthur. They had collaborated a few times, but had never really talked. Upon their drinks coming to the table, he smiled at his coworkers and took the stems of the champagne glasses between his fingers, passing them around.

But with a brush of fingers, colors flooded into his eyes and he furrowed his brows. "Woah…" he sighed before shaking his head as if he were brushing something off. The man sitting next to him, Arthur, had the most beautiful hue of green in his eyes, and he was confused. Wasn't he supposed to be straight? He was the only one his fingers had touched, and it was confused. Beyond boggling, and he was…intrigued, to say the least.

Leaning closer to Arthur, Alfred whispered, "Did you see it, too?"

Arthur was still working on controlling his racing heart. When his hand had brushed against the other male's, he had truly known. The golden hair and the soft blue eyes had given it away. He was so taken aback that his heart had begun to race and he had forgotten how to breathe. Everything seemed so wrong, yet so right. All he could do was nod at the question.

"What was that?" he whispered back.

"I…I don't know," Alfred sighed in response, his blue orbs wide in pure confusion. "But I'm straight…" he mumbled to himself as he shook his head, the memory gone.

.

 _Present Day_

Alfred pulled Arthur closer as the whistle of the bomb became louder. "You make me happy…When skies are gray…"

Arthur snuggled into Alfred's embrace, never wanting him to let go. He could hear the whistling but didn't care about the end anymore.

.

 _Thirteen Years Previous_

Arthur looked around the party. Everyone said there were bright colors. He just pretended he could see them when people pointed them out, knowing that people knew he was a storyboard artist.

His eyes scanned the crowd for Alfred, just to see if he could touch him and see the colors again. He was dying to. It was all he really wanted.

The party was going well, and Alfred was mingling with a small group of women in a corner, a smile on his lips and his drink raised in the air. "And I was just speaking in a calm voice, this man was just off the rocker, yelling and screaming at me to stop!" he laughed, his gaze looking over the crowd to see Arthur looking directly at him.

When their fingers brushed...he saw colors, very vivid colors. The whole spectrum, you could say. Slowly, the male made his way toward the other blond, touching his shoulder with a smile.

"And how are you this wonderful evening?" he inquired.

Arthur slowly reached up to touch Alfred's skin once more, grazing his fingers with the taller man's. His eyes lit up as the striking colors around him flooded into his vision. "Alfred!" he gasped out. "Does this mean that we are…?" He let the question hang in the open for awhile like that, knowing perfectly well that Alfred wasn't the least bit interested in men.

The colors, they were back, and more vivid than before. There seemed to be a flicker in Alfred's eyes. Was it love, or was it just the noticing of colors? Alfred answered with a sigh and a closing of his eyes. "Yes…but you know very well that I'm not interested in men."

"Well obviously," Arthur scoffed, trying to hide the hurt from Alfred's words. "I'm just as confused as you are." He sighed. "But aren't these colors amazing?" he breathed. His emerald eyes lit up as he looked at Alfred. "Don't try telling me you don't think this is cool, Alfred." He looked all around them. "Too bad it only lasts while our skin touches for now…" Arthur was quiet for a moment. "But why you?"

"I have no idea, but this is…rather awesome," Alfred admitted while slipping his hand from Arthur's touch and seeing nothing but monochromatic hues. It was odd his soulmate was a male, but why? He was straight…wasn't he? It just seemed off that they would be meant for each other.

Arthur tried to hold back a sigh of dismay as Alfred took his hand back. What could he do to keep his hand there? There had to be something. But what? He frowned and exhaled deeply.

As the night went on, Alfred maneuvered through the crowd, his hand either holding a drink or partaking in a dance with many beautiful women. Though as he was doing so, his mind kept wandering back to Arthur. Were they meant to be together? Was this a way of telling him he wasn't completely straight? Or was it some cruel joke that he would never find his soulmate?

But those questions were never answered and Alfred found himself by Arthur's side, oddly holding his hand. Perhaps he'd had too many drinks. It couldn't have been that, though. He wasn't slurring his words or stumbling around; he was completely sober.

Arthur was delighted to have Alfred holding his hand so he could see the colors, yet he couldn't control the racing in his chest when he looked up at Alfred and realized he was holding his hand because he wanted to. It was almost like a new euphoria that he couldn't even begin to describe. But he loved it more than anything in the world.

A soft smile formed upon Alfred's lips as he looked down to Arthur, the colors seeming to become more beautiful as their skin touched. Words could not be formed as they held hands, Alfred, somewhat, accepting this new information.

.

 _Present Day_

People were crying all around them as their world came to an end.

"You'll never know, dear…" Alfred's voice cracked, fear finally peeking through his tone, but he had to continue. "How much I love you…" A tear fell down his cheek as he sang, but he wanted to be strong. Not only for his lover, but for himself.

Arthur slowly reached up and wiped the tear away, smiling at him. He could sense the fear and began to feel it himself with a cold shiver. But he had to focus on Alfred. That was what was important to him at the time, not the war.

.

 _Ten Years Previous_

His foot tapped restlessly in the hallway at work. He couldn't wait for Alfred to finally show up. Some things needed to be said between the two. No more secretly meeting up and holding hands to see colors. Something needed to be done.

Alfred felt his heart racing as his Oxford-clad feet padded along the hallway toward the actual story-processing area of the company. Within his pocket was a necklace, a rose gold chain with a ring on it, something he'd been meaning to give Arthur since he had accepted that he loved the man. His eyes looked up from the floor and landed upon the man he had fallen in love with, a smile forming upon his lips.

"Alfred," Arthur began, trying to keep his voice from catching in his throat. "There's something I really need to talk to you about." He walked toward the older man. "It's just that…" His voice trailed off as all of his confidence he once had seemed to vanish as he stared up at Alfred.

"Um…Arthur…this is for you," Alfred started, bringing the necklace out of his pocket and thrusting it toward the other. "Here…" he mumbled, face red. It would be called a simple blush, if it wasn't for the intensity of a thousand suns. "I…um…lo…love…y…" he stuttered, unsure of how to proceed.

Arthur gasped and pushed Alfred into his empty office, shutting the door after him. "You-You what?" he asked, confused. "I don't get it. You like women, Alfred!" He looked at the necklace in his hands and turned bright red. "This is really for me?" he softly asked.

Alfred looked to the floor and took a deep breath. "Yes!" he exclaimed, forgetting to explain that he wasn't sure he loved just women. "I love you, Arthur. I love the way you get all shy when I look at you, and the cute things you say, I just…you make me see the world in vivid and beautiful colors!" he added, moving his hands to hide his face in embarrassment.

It was true, he loved the hell out of Arthur, and would even die for him. But just admitting this emotion wasn't enough. Alfred grabbed the other's shoulder, pulling him close for his lips to smash against Arthur's own.

Arthur's eyes flew open the Alfred kissed him, but they quickly closed as his arms wrapped around the older man's shoulders. He was soon lost in Alfred's lips, more in love than he had ever been in his life.

When they pulled apart for air, Arthur looked up into Alfred's blue eyes, breathless. "I love you, too."

.

 _Present Day_

The memory faded out as Alfred let out a cry of pain, knowing that the end was near. They spent so many years sleeping within each other's arms, telling each other secrets in the early hours of the morning, and the rings on their fingers told different stories.

"Please…don't take…my sunshine…" Alfred paused to let the last word…be his last. "Away…"

That was when the tears slipped from Arthur's eyes as he looked up at the love of his life, praying that they would meet again in another life. "I love you forever," he whispered.

The whistling stopped and there was a sudden white light. Then everything went black.


End file.
